6
EE 356 August 29, 2014 C# Notes C# .NET has the following features • Interoperability - The term interoperability is used to describe the capability of different programs to exchange data via a common set of exchange formats, to read and write the same file formats, and to use the same protocols. • Multi-language support • A common run-time engine that is shared by all .NET languages • Language integration – supports cross language inheritance, exception handling, and debugging. • A simple deployment model. Terminology CIL – Common Intermediate Language – This is a language, much like assembler, which all .NET programs compile to. The CIL is platform agnostic. The C# compiler does not produce machine language for a specific machine. Rather, it produces a binary (*.dll or *.exe) in the Common Intermediate Language or CIL. Assembly – This is a single file that has the binary data for an application. It is written in CIL. Module – This is a group of assemblies or a multi-file assembly. Jitter – This is the Just in time compiler that changes the CIL into machine specific instructions. The Jitter not only compiles the CIL language, it also saves it in the cache so that if the assembly is asked for again it does not have to be recompiled. CLR – Common Language Runtime – This is a software package which loads and manages .NET types. It is comparable to the Java Virtual Machine. The CLR contains the Jitter. It locates, loads, and compiles the CIL to machine specific code for execution.

Assisted Ignition of Hydrothermal Flames in a Pilot ......assisted ignition of a hydrothermal flame is relevant for the field application of the technique, where the flame has to be

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Page 1: Assisted Ignition of Hydrothermal Flames in a Pilot ......assisted ignition of a hydrothermal flame is relevant for the field application of the technique, where the flame has to be

PROCEEDINGS, Thirty-Seventh Workshop on Geothermal Reservoir Engineering

Stanford University, Stanford, California, January 30 - February 1, 2012

SGP-TR-194

ASSISTED IGNITION OF HYDROTHERMAL FLAMES IN A HYDROTHERMAL

SPALLATION DRILLING PILOT PLANT

P.STATHOPOULOS, T.ROTHENFLUH, M.SCHULER, D.BRKIC, Ph.RUDOLF VON ROHR

ETH Zürich – Department of Mechanical Engineering – Institute of Process Engineering

Sonneggstrasse 3

Zurich, CH-8092, Switzerland

e-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

Spallation drilling is a promising drilling technique

that could prove to be economically advantageous

over rotary techniques for deep wells needed e.g. for

geothermal energy production. It takes advantage of

the properties of certain rock types, to spall rock to

small disk-like fragments due to thermal stresses. In

water-filled boreholes two to three kilometers deep,

water exceeds its critical pressure and hydrothermal

flames can provide the required heat to spall the rock.

One potential spallation drilling head consists of a

combustion chamber fed by water, fuel and oxidant.

The reactants are preheated and react to a

supercritical, hydrothermal flame in the aqueous

environment of the burning chamber. The water in

the combustion chamber reaches high temperatures

and exits through a nozzle together with the

combustion products. The resulting supercritical

water jet is directed to the rock surface to induce

fragmentation.

Building on the investigations on hydrothermal

flames carried out in our lab for almost two decades,

the work presented in this paper focuses on the

assisted ignition of these flames. For the

investigation of spallation drilling, a novel

hydrothermal spallation drilling pilot plant was built.

The self-ignition methodology used in all the

previously published investigations is not an option

anymore, due to safety reasons. Additionally, the

assisted ignition of a hydrothermal flame is relevant

for the field application of the technique, where the

flame has to be ignited in a deep borehole. The

implemented ignition set-up, an ignition model and

the corresponding experimental results are presented.

INTRODUCTION

If geothermal power utilization for energy production

is to become competitive in a large energy production

scale, the drilling costs need to be reduced. These

costs, for conventional - rotary drilling increase

exponentially with depth (Tester 2007). Spallation

rock drilling (Rauenzahn 1989) is based on the rapid

local heating of rock inducing high thermal stresses

on its surface due to its low thermal conductivity.

The heat flux required to fracture the rock can be

provided by high velocity flame jets impinging on the

rock surface. For the concept to work in deep well

drilling, a flame ignited in a high-density water-based

drilling fluid at hydrostatic pressures exceeding the

critical pressure of water (220.6 bar) should be used.

An approach for the application of this technique,

currently under investigation in our laboratory, is

called "hydrothermal spallation drilling" (Augustine

2009). Although the drilling concept has been well

documented, many critical issues for its

implementation in deep boreholes are still open. The

most important relevant scientific topics, which are

being investigated in our research group, are

presented on Fig.1.

Figure 1: Scientific topics investigated in our

research group

Although research on hydrothermal flames in

supercritical water (SCW) is carried out the last three

decades, no systematic solution of the assisted

Page 2: Assisted Ignition of Hydrothermal Flames in a Pilot ......assisted ignition of a hydrothermal flame is relevant for the field application of the technique, where the flame has to be

ignition of such a flame has been presented so far.

This work intends to fill this gap and propose a

reliable method of assisted ignition, which could be

also implemented in a real borehole.

IGNITION METHODOLOGY - MODELLING

There are many different methodologies to ignite a

combustible mixture, two of which are the most used,

namely spark ignition and ignition on a hot surface.

The first is used in internal combustion engines,

while the second is implemented in gas furnaces.

Both methodologies are well known, but could not be

directly implemented in the application in question,

due to the high density aqueous environment

prevailing in flames in SCW, and due to the

respective high pressures.

Hot surface ignition has been chosen as the most

easily applicable in the aforementioned environment.

An electrical resistance could be heated up with DC

or AC voltage and heating powers up to one kW

could be easily reached if necessary.

Adapting existing literature models on the specific

conditions of our ignition setting we attempt to

understand the underlying mechanisms of the

phenomenon and predict the parameters necessary for

ignition. Among the existing models in the literature,

the model presented from Adomeit (Adomeit 1961),

which is based on the theoretical models of

F.Kamenetskii (A.Frank-Kamenetskii 1969), has

been chosen as a first approximation. The model

predicts the surface temperature and the heat flux to a

fluid necessary for the ignition of combustible

mixtures, flowing over hot surfaces, as sketched in

Fig.2.

Figure 2 Ignition model after Adomeit (Adomeit

1961).

A fluid with a velocity U∞ flows over a surface,

which is kept at constant temperature Tw. In steady

state conditions a temperature boundary layer (profile

T(x)) develops in the perpendicular direction to the

wall, and a qualitative picture of its temperature

profile is presented Fig.2 for the cases with and

without an exothermic reaction. Hence it is expected

that the highest temperatures in the flow will be

located inside its boundary layer and therefore the

ignition conditions will be reached within this layer.

Several simplifications are made to reduce the

complexity of the problem, the most important of

which are:

The pre-ignition temperature rise is small in

comparison to the temperature value at the

heated wall. This assumption implies that

RT<<E, in the computational field, where R,

is the universal gas constant, E the activation

energy of the combustion reaction

(assuming one step Arrhenius kinetics) and

T is the temperature in K.

The reaction rate depends only on

temperature of the gas. The dependence on

the concentration and on pressure is

neglected.

The average temperature between the bulk

and the wall is used for the calculation of the

material properties.

The approach in the current work considers only the

boundary layer, whose thickness of which is

estimated from the value L/Nu, where “L” is the

length of the igniter and Nu is the Nusselt number of

the flow. Because the thickness of the boundary layer

is much smaller than the length of the igniter, the

geometry of the problem is approximated from a gas

flowing between two parallel plates, which are at

constant temperatures, Tw and T∞. Heat transfer takes

place only through heat conduction between these

walls, and the convection comes into play only

through the definition of the distance between the

layers. The temperature distribution in this thermal

boundary layer can be calculated from the energy

balance equation for this layer. Based on the

assumption that ignition takes place when no solution

for the temperature distribution can be found, the

critical ignition conditions are calculated.

The energy conservation equation in this gas layer

can be written as:

(1)

And the corresponding boundary conditions are:

For , (2)

, (3)

In equations 1-3, λ is the thermal conductivity of the

gas, Q is the heat of combustion of the gas, C is a

constant for the reaction, R is the universal gas

constant, E is the activation energy of the reaction,

and T is the temperature of the system in K, Tw is the

wall temperature, T∞ is the free stream temperature

and Nu is the Nusselt number of the flow.

Since the length of the cylinder is much higher than

the thickness of the boundary layer, one can simplify

Page 3: Assisted Ignition of Hydrothermal Flames in a Pilot ......assisted ignition of a hydrothermal flame is relevant for the field application of the technique, where the flame has to be

the problem further in a one dimensional heat

conduction problem. Expressing the equations in a

dimensionless form and simplifying the exponential

part of the right hand side of the equation according

to F.Kamenetskii (A.Frank-Kamenetskii 1969), we

come up with the following non-linear boundary

conditions problem:

(4)

with boundary conditions:

(5)

(6)

The dimensionless parameters for equations 4-6 are

presented on table 1.

Table 1 Dimensionless parameters of the problem.

Parameter Definition

Dimensionless

Temperature

( )

Dimensionless

Distance

Frank

Kamenetskii

parameter

(

)

The boundary conditions problem 4-6 can be solved

analytically as shown from F. Kamenetskii (A.Frank-

Kamenetskii 1969), leading to an expression of the

temperature distribution in the computational field in

question. The solution expressed as a function of two

integration constants is:

( √ )

(7)

The integration constants “a” and “b” should be

calculated from the boundary conditions of the

problem (eq.(5) &(6)).

From eq.(5) we calculate the value of “b” as:

√ (8)

Using the boundary condition (6) and substituting “b”

from (8), we come up with an equation for the

calculation of “ ” as a function of the system

parameters “ ” and “ ”.

{ √

√ }

(9)

Depending of the boundary conditions and the

material properties, equation (9) can have three, two,

one or no solution for the integration constant “ ”.

As Adomeit (Adomeit 1961) shows, the case where

eq.(9) has only one solution corresponds to the

ignition conditions of the mixture and the critical

value of parameter “ ”, which leads to ignition, is

the solution of eq.(10).

(10)

Eq. (10) has to be solved numerically. From the value

of “ ”, calculated from eq. (10), one can calculate the

critical value of the parameter “ ” and through its

definition the ignition wall temperature value for a

given Nusselt number or the critical value of the

Nusselt number for a given wall temperature.

CONVECTIVE HEAT TRANSFER

COEFFICIENT MEASUREMENTS

Motivation - Goal

The boundary conditions and the computational field

of the presented ignition model are defined from the

convective heat transfer coefficient of the flow.

Since no data can be found in the literature for the

heat transfer coefficient of the flow in the burner

setup of the plant, the actual heat transfer coefficient

had to be measured prior to making any prediction

for the ignition conditions.

The heat transfer experiments had the goal to define

the average convective heat transfer coefficient “h”

over the surface of an igniter.

Measurement concept

From the definition of the convective heat transfer

coefficient in eq. (11), one has to measure the

exchanged heat flux between a surface and a fluid,

the bulk temperature of the fluid and the surface

temperature, in order to measure the heat transfer

coefficient as a product variable.

( ) (11)

Since the experiments are conducted in a high

pressure vessel with limited space, a simple

experimental setup is designed to provide as much

data as possible.

A K-type thermocouple with a 3mm diameter was

used for the bulk temperature measurement, while the

heat flux was calculated from the voltage and current

values fed to the igniter. The direct measurement of

the surface temperature was more challenging,

because it is technically impossible to attach a

thermocouple on a heated surface at temperatures

between 350-800°C in desalinated water. This

problem was solved by the implementation of a

ceramic igniter made of silicon nitride, which had a

favorable temperature dependence of its resistance.

Page 4: Assisted Ignition of Hydrothermal Flames in a Pilot ......assisted ignition of a hydrothermal flame is relevant for the field application of the technique, where the flame has to be

Calculating the resistance through measurement of

the voltage and current values fed to the igniter, the

average temperature of its heated length could be

estimated.

Experimental Setup

Spallation drilling pilot plant - short description

The presented experiments were conducted in the

new hydrothermal spallation drilling plant of our lab.

The plant is using water-ethanol mixtures as a fuel

and pure oxygen as an oxidation medium and is

capable of reaching fuel power 120 kW. Its

maximum working pressure is 350bar and it is

designed to process rock probes with a diameter of

9.5cm and a length of 35 cm. The reactants are

preheated at temperatures reaching 420 °C, prior to

their injection in the pressure vessel of the plant. Two

high pressure water pumps provide the cooling water.

Core of the plant is its high pressure burning

chamber, where all experiments are carried out. It has

a volume of approximately 5.8 liters, and it was

designed to withstand pressures of 600bar at wall

temperatures of 500°C. Its inner diameter is 14cm

and the length of its inner space is 40 cm. Optical

access to the vessel is provided by two small sapphire

windows on its head. Probe access and positioning,

while under pressure, is achieved with two individual

positioning devices similar to the ones presented by

Prikopsky (Prikopsky 2007), the positioning accuracy

of which is 0.2mm.

The experiments presented in the current work

concentrate on the heat transfer conditions prevailing

in the burner setup of the plant. A technical drawing

of the upper part of the burning chamber is presented

on Fig.3.

Figure 3 Technical drawing of the upper part of the

used pressure vessel

The inner space of the pressure vessel is divided in

the outer cooling mantle, where water keeps the load-

bearing walls at low temperatures, and the inner

space where the hydrothermal flame will be ignited at

its upper part and the rock probes will be inserted

from below in the future. The cooling mantle is fed

with water from two inlet holes (not shown on Fig.3)

and water is provided to the inner space with two

holes opposite to one another, in order to provide a

homogeneous cooling to the burner of the setup.

The pre-heated fuel mixture is fed axially to the

burning chamber through a specially designed burner

nozzle. Oxygen is fed from a radial hole (not shown

on Fig.3) with an angle to the axis of the vessel equal

to 45°, and then through the annulus between the

burner nozzle and the reactor body.

A detailed drawing of the burning chamber with its

dimensions and the operational data used during the

experiments is presented on Fig.4.

Figure 4 Measurement setup with operational and

the dimensional data (dimensions are given in mm)

Igniter characteristics

The igniter used as a heated surface is a cylindrical

body consisting primarily of silicon nitride. The

electrical resistance is implemented in the main body

by a sintering procedure and it consists of 80% vol.

silicon nitride and the rest is additives, MoSi2 and

TaN. The outer surface of the igniter was electrically

insulating.

The total length of the igniter is 90 mm, the diameter

of its heated zone is 4mm and its length is 40mm.

The dependence of its resistance from its temperature

was calibrated in a high temperature oven up to

temperatures of 520 °C.

The temperature in the calibration experiments was

measured with two K-type thermocouples positioned

near the igniter and its resistance was measured with

Page 5: Assisted Ignition of Hydrothermal Flames in a Pilot ......assisted ignition of a hydrothermal flame is relevant for the field application of the technique, where the flame has to be

a multi-meter. The accuracy of the thermocouple

measurement was ±1.5°C, and of the multi-meter

0.8% of the measured value.

The calibration line is presented on Fig.5, together

with its confidence intervals, computed based on the

orthogonal regression method (Gillard 2009).

Technical reasons did not allow for the calibration of

the igniter at higher temperatures (the material used

for soldering its electrical contacts melted above

550°C), but calibration data provided from the

construction company show a linear dependency up

to temperatures of 1000°C (Bach 2011).

The electrical connection system was custom made

and it is a combination of a ceramic capillary,

through which the bear wires were inserted for the

high temperature region and kapton insulated copper

wires for the low temperature region. The resistance

of the feeding line was subtracted from the total

resistance measurements, in order to account only for

the igniter resistance.

Figure 5 Igniter Calibration Curve. Confidence

interval ±0.5%.

The igniter can be fed with voltage values up to 230V

and current values up to 9A depending on its

resistance.

Experimental procedure

As already mentioned the heat transfer measurements

will be the input for the ignition model, with the aim

to predict the ignition conditions in the system in

question. For this reason experimental conditions

were chosen which simulate the ignition experiments

planned for the future. Accordingly, measurements

were performed with both fuel and gas streams

(nitrogen).

All the measurements were performed at a constant

pressure of 260±4 bar and the fluids were preheated

at temperatures between 350 and 420°C. Four fuel-

stream compositions were used having

0%,10%,20%,30% wt. ethanol, and various mass-

flow values for nitrogen, in order to investigate its

influence. The mass flows used are presented in table

2.

Table 2 Fuel and gas steam mass flows and

compositions used in the experiments

Fuel steam

composition

[wt.% Ethanol]

Mass flows

Fuel stream

[kghr-1

]

Nitrogen

stream

[Nlmin-1

]

0

10

130 20

30

40

10

10

130 20

30

40

20

10 130

20

30 180

35 220

30

10 130

15

20 180

25 220

It must be stressed that the experiments in question

are performed in a pressure and temperature region

crossing the critical point of the mixtures used

(Abdurashidova 2007), (Wagner 2008) (Japas 1985).

In this region the material properties (especially the

cp and Pr values) exhibit a very strong dependency on

the pressure and the temperature. Due to this material

behavior, the convective heat transfer coefficient

depends not only on the flow conditions, but it is also

a strong function of the temperature of the fluid, the

applied heat flux and the presence of buoyancy

effects (Pioro 2005), (Polyakov 1991).

For this reason the same experiments were carried

out for two heat flux values, namely 0.5 and 0.7

MWm-2

.

The procedure implemented for each measurement

consisted of the following steps:

Once the predefined fluid temperature and

fluid mass flow was reached, voltage was

fed to the igniter.

A defined ramp was followed for each

measurement leading to the first heat flux

value (see Fig.6).

This value of the voltage was kept constant

for sixty seconds and the voltage value, the

current value and the bulk temperature were

recorded.

The next step in the voltage was adjusted to

reach the second value of the heat flux on

the igniter (see Fig.6).

After the sixty seconds of the second heat

flux measurement a ramp was followed for

the reduction of the voltage on the igniter.

Page 6: Assisted Ignition of Hydrothermal Flames in a Pilot ......assisted ignition of a hydrothermal flame is relevant for the field application of the technique, where the flame has to be

Once the voltage was switched off, the bulk

temperature was recorded for sixty seconds.

Figure 6 Voltage ramps example for a measurement.

Experimental results

The results for two mass flows of the 10%wt. ethanol

fuel mixture are presented on Fig.7 and Fig.8 for two

heat flux values (0.5 and 0.7 MWm-2

respectively). In

these experiments the mass flow of nitrogen was kept

constant at 130 Nlmin-1

.

Figure 7 Convective heat transfer coefficient values

for a mixture of water, ethanol (10%wt.) and

nitrogen (mf – fuel mixture flow rate; mN2 - nitrogen

flow rate).Heat flux from the heated surface to the

flow 0.5[MWm-2

].

From the data presented in Fig.7 and Fig.8 it can be

clearly seen, that the addition of nitrogen reduces the

heat transfer coefficient of the flow.

Another significant result is that for all the cases a

peak of the heat transfer coefficient is observed.

Similar effects were reported in many publications,

investigating the heat transfer coefficient of a

supercritical water flow in a pipe (Jäger 2011). The

reason for such a peak is the very strong change in

the fluid properties. This peak gives also an

indication for the pseudo critical temperature (the

temperature at which the cp acquires its maximum

value) of the ternary mixture under the reported

conditions. Unfortunately the bulk temperature

resolution of our measurements does not allow for

the accurate measurement of this temperature.

According to the values presented from Rogak

(Rogak 2001) for water – oxygen systems, the

addition of nitrogen should lower the pseudo critical

temperature of the working fluid in a similar manner

with the one observed in our measurements.

Nevertheless in our case we have a water-ethanol

mixture and we can only assume its pseudo critical

temperature from the data of its critical temperature

presented from Abduraslidova (Abdurashidova

2007).

Figure 8 Convective heat transfer coefficient values

for a mixture of water, ethanol (10%wt.) and

nitrogen (mf – fuel mixture flow rate; mN2 - nitrogen

flow rate).Heat flux from the heated surface to the

flow 0.7[MWm-2

].

Moreover we are investigating mixtures which are

highly non-ideal and the data presented are only

indications that our mixture behaves in the same way.

Unfortunately there are no data for the ternary

mixture we are using at the present, and the only way

to interpret the results is through the material

properties presented in the works of Abduraslidova

(Abdurashidova 2007), and Japas (Japas 1985).

Another expected observation was the dependency of

the heat transfer coefficient on the heat flux used in

the heated surface. The heat transfer coefficient falls

as the heat flux from the surface to the fluid is

increased.

The same results as for Fig.7 and Fig.8 are shown for

a 30%wt. ethanol fuel mixture on Fig.9 and Fig.10. In

these experiments the mass flow of nitrogen was

adjusted to a value corresponding to oxygen - fuel

combustion equivalence ratio of 1.2. This value was

180 Nlmin-1

for a fuel mass flow 20 kghr-1

and 220

Nlmin-1

for a fuel mass flow 25 kghr-1

. The heat flux

values used were the same as in the previous

diagrams.

Comparing these diagrams with the ones on Fig.7 and

Fig. 8, one can see that the bulk temperature, at

which the peak of the heat transfer coefficient is

Page 7: Assisted Ignition of Hydrothermal Flames in a Pilot ......assisted ignition of a hydrothermal flame is relevant for the field application of the technique, where the flame has to be

observed, shifts to lower values. This is an additional

indication that the behavior the water-oxygen

mixtures described from Rogak (Rogak 2001) is

similar with the ternary mixture in our case.

Figure 9 Convective heat transfer coefficient values

for a mixture of water, ethanol (30%wt.) and

nitrogen (mf – fuel mixture flow rate; mN2 - nitrogen

flow rate).Heat flux from the heated surface to the

flow 0.5[MWm-2

].

Figure 10 Convective heat transfer coefficient values

for a mixture of water, ethanol (30%wt.) and

nitrogen (mf – fuel mixture flow rate; mN2 - nitrogen

flow rate).Heat flux from the heated surface to the

flow 0.7 [MWm-2

].

Error calculation-uncertainty estimation

The uncertainty of the measurements was calculated

by using simple Gaussian error propagation for each

product variable. The directly measured variables

were the voltage and the current on the igniter, and

the bulk temperature. The accuracy of the voltage and

current measurements was 0.75 V and 50 mA

respectively. Hence the resistance measurement error

was calculated from eq.(12).

√(

)

(

)

(12)

The value of the surface temperature was measured

from the inverse regression line, resulted from the

calibration procedure of the igniter eq. (13).

(13)

The error of the regression variables (b0 and b1) was

calculated from the error-in-variables orthogonal

regression procedure presented in the work of Gillard

(Gillard 2009). The error of the temperature

measurements was calculated from eq. (14).

√(

)

( )

((

) )

(14)

The value of the heat transfer coefficient was

calculated from eq. (15).

(15)

From eq. (15) it can be seen, that the accuracy of the

heat transfer coefficient measurement depends

strongly on the temperature difference between the

wall and the bulk of the fluid. This is the reason why

the measurements with the lower heat flux values

have a higher measurement error.

IGNITION CONDITIONS PREDICTION

Based on the heat transfer coefficient measurements

presented in the previous section, a calculation of the

ignition conditions is performed. The calculated cases

will be some of the target cases for the first ignition

experiments, which will be carried out in our lab.

The simple ignition model presented in the respective

section is herewith implemented, with the following

computational assumptions:

The fluid properties are evaluated for the

average temperature between the bulk and

the wall temperature. Mole averaged values

are taken for the mixture, based on

properties tables of each component (NIST

Chemistry WebBook 2012).

The molecular values of thermal

conductivity and viscosity are taken.

The values for the activation energy “E” and

the pre-exponential factor are taken form the

work of Mercadier (Mercadier 2007).

The value of the measured bulk temperature

will be used as T∞ for the model.

Additionally, only the cases were taken into

consideration, where a homogeneous mixture is

expected. The model assumes a homogeneous

mixture for the calculations, and in the experiments

Page 8: Assisted Ignition of Hydrothermal Flames in a Pilot ......assisted ignition of a hydrothermal flame is relevant for the field application of the technique, where the flame has to be

in question this is the case for temperature values

above the critical point of the fuel stream.

Accordingly only the bulk temperatures above 350°C

were considered.

Fig. 11 and 12 present two curves for two different

values of the mass flow. The composition of the fuel

stream is in both cases 10%wt. and the gas mass flow

is the same as in the heat transfer experiments.

Figure 11. Values of the modeled ignition wall

temperature (red) and the igniter temperature (blue)

for two cases with 10%wt. ethanol in the fuel stream

and 0,5 [MWm-2

] heat flux from the igniter.

The red curves show the critical ignition wall

temperature values calculated from the model for the

corresponding bulk temperatures in the y-axis. The

blue lines are the wall temperature values of the

igniter, when it operates at the respective heat flux

with the bulk temperature shown in the y-axis and the

respective measured heat transfer coefficient.

Figure 12.Values of the modeled ignition wall

temperature (red) and the igniter temperature (blue)

for the cases with 10%wt. ethanol in the fuel stream

and 0,7 [MWm-2

] heat flux from the igniter.

When the temperature reached from the igniter

exceeds the critical ignition wall temperature

calculated from the model ignition takes place. This

seems to be the case in both presented cases.

Nevertheless, the model is very sensitive on the data

used for the chemical kinetics of the reaction. The

values used are average literature values and have a

high uncertainty. Apart from the simplifications of

the model, this is the most significant source of

uncertainty for the calculated ignition wall-

temperatures. Fig.13 shows an example of the

sensitivity of the model on the chemical kinetics data.

On this figure the ignition results are shown for the

case presented in Fig.11 with two different activation

energy values inside the uncertainty interval reported

from Mercadier (Mercadier 2007). In the case of

higher activation energy, the bulk temperature must

be at least 380°C, for ignition to occur with the

shown heat flux from the igniter.

It is apparent, that the presented model is a

qualitative approximation and its quantitative results

must be interpreted very carefully.

Figure 13. Activation energy sensitivity of the

ignition conditions for the case shown on Fig.12 @

40 [kghr-1

]

CONCLUSION

A simple and robust ignition system has been

developed for hydrothermal flames. Voltage values

of 230 V could be fed to a ceramic igniter at 260 bar

and 400°C. The heat transfer conditions have been

characterized in the burning chamber, where the

ignition experiments will be carried out.

The measurement of the convective heat transfer

coefficient in the burner setup was the first step of the

assisted ignition project in our pilot plant. Based on

the performed measurements, a set of operational

points of the plant will be chosen and ignition

experiments will be performed for these points.

Additionally a simple model for the hot surface

ignition has been adapted to the hydrothermal flames

case and the ignition conditions have been calculated.

The results of the model show, that ignition will most

probably be possible with the current setup.

Aim of the ignition project is to have a reliable

ignition source, which will allow for the easy ignition

of hydrothermal flames in our plant. The

investigations performed in this project will be very

useful input for applications in real boreholes,

because many aspects of the assisted ignition of

hydrothermal flames will be solved. Data, like the

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ignition temperature and the respective heat flux

values for specified operational conditions of a flame

are valuable input for the dimensioning of an

industrial igniter for hydrothermal flames.

REFERENCES

A.Frank-Kamenetskii, David. Diffusion and Heat

Transfer in Chemical Kinetics. New York:

N Y. Plenum Press, 1969.

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